Focused Feedback: Electrical Affinity - Powers (Release Candidates)

[Wavicle]

1 minute ago, Razor Cure said:

It just seems totally..arbitrary. Sure, its a unique power and stuff, but with such a low recharge, and how good it is..

I also agree about the ability to use it when Mezzed. That just makes it too good.

Have you actually tried it or is this based on just looking at the numbers?

[Razor Cure]

Just now, Wavicle said:

Have you actually tried it or is this based on just looking at the numbers?

Yes, I have tried it.

[Wavicle]

10 minutes ago, Razor Cure said:

Yes, I have tried it.

ok, well, I would say it HAS to be castable while mezzed.  So what would you propose to take away from it BESIDES that which would make it balanced in your view?

[Replacement]

13 minutes ago, Razor Cure said:

It just seems totally..arbitrary. Sure, its a unique power and stuff, but with such a low recharge, and how good it is..

I also agree about the ability to use it when Mezzed. That just makes it too good.

I'm pretty sure 4 minutes is the duration of ally "at-will" buffs. So bubbles, shields, etc. It makes a lot of sense. It's just... a lot together, on a set that doesn't exactly scream "indomitable juggernaut."

 

And ouwup!* I just realized Pain Domination should be able to activate its powers while rezzed. That would be fantastic.

 

*My attempt at onomatopoeia.

[Replacement]

4 minutes ago, Wavicle said:

ok, well, I would say it HAS to be castable while mezzed.  

I'm curious why. Given the 10 second cooldown and 5 second grace period, you should be planning around it and it should be easy to ensure you're always engaging with the buff.

 

Self-counterpoint: this set is really busy so there is a question of how many considerations are too many considerations.

[Wavicle]

Just now, Replacement said:

I'm curious why. Given the 10 second cooldown and 5 second grace period, you should be planning around it and it should be easy to ensure you're always engaging with the buff.

 

Self-counterpoint: this set is really busy so there is a question of how many considerations are too many considerations.

hypothetical: you jump into a group (not first necessarily, doesn't matter) you're about to fire it off, when an aoe mez (you have no Defense powers) prevents you from casting it. For it to provide anywhere close to the protection you get from Traps, FF, and Sonic mez bubbles you have to be able to cast it while mezzed.

[Wavicle]

I'm not really sure why the fact you can cast it while mezzed would itself make the power too good.

If it IS too good, and I'm not sure it is, I would look at the status protections and debuff resistances it gives.  Does it really need Immobilize protection? Does it really need Slow resistance?

Edited March 27, 2020 by Wavicle

[Sir Myshkin]

 Supporting Wavicle on this, if the power were too good, it's not on the pretense that we can click it to get the protection, but in the value of what it's providing. Right now the thing that makes it a "weak point" is in the constant re-application of the ability as the team moves around. We're talking a likely 20-40/s constant re-upping of Faraday, that can get pretty tedious, and also something easy to forget. If any questions were going to get brought up about what would be unfair would exist in what benefits are gained while inside the cage.

 

As it stands currently, Faraday Cage is giving a pretty high blanket coverage to everything but Terrorize (Fear) compared to the other bubble effects that only hit on Hold, Immobilize, and Disorient. Faraday is also giving some additional debuff resistances while in its effects, which is adding to that gravy. I'm personally accepting of it at least sharing Hold and Disorient, as they play into the theme of what a Faraday Cage actually is; I'll even toss in the debuff resists to -End/Recov. The things that I personally find out of place are Immobilize and Knockback effects, and to an extent possible Confuse. Immob and KB are more physical impairments that make less logical sense. I build up my resistance/tolerance in the field, but if something hits me with enough force, it could still blast me out of the cage. Having no Immob protection would also be a disadvantage to the team, something that would have to be considered or built around as well. The player being stuck in the Cage is perfectly fine, but if the team moves on without them, they loose the benefits.

 

But in all of that potential argument, those are all things that can very easily be built around in a basic IO build (not even a fancy-pants expensive one). So... do we force build around it, or just say "heck with it, here"? In my opinion, it probably shouldn't be so blanket covering that only Fear is the hole. I'd argue that Confuse and Knockback should be stripped out as well so that the player has to make conscious decisions about their cast-actions. Could you imagine getting confused and then dropping a Faraday Cage for the enemy benefit of four minutes?!

 

I'll say this now though, if Faraday Cage stays as-is, then it would be a call to balance Dispersion Bubble, Sonic Dispersion, and Force Field Generator to be more inclusive/in-line with the respective sets.

 

And the four minute timer on Faraday Cage is fine.

[JayboH]

1 hour ago, Wavicle said:

ok, well, I would say it HAS to be castable while mezzed.

It does have to, we just found out officially.  I really don't get the concern of it being up 4 minutes.  Lots of other bubbles are either 4 minutes or completely permanent.  The only possibility one could complain about is a lack of a hole, and again that could be a staple draw to the set that makes it unique.

[JayboH]

55 minutes ago, Replacement said:

I'm curious why. Given the 10 second cooldown and 5 second grace period, you should be planning around it and it should be easy to ensure you're always engaging with the buff.

 

Self-counterpoint: this set is really busy so there is a question of how many considerations are too many considerations.

The devs just told you why.  If it wasn't, it would make it an outlier - clickable mez protection is designed to break mez.  Toggles do not.

 

You want Faraday Cage to be the only clickable stun protection in the entire game to not break mez?

[Vulgaris]

Any numbers/opinions about amp up and is it self castable? I've noticed no one's mentioned a peep about it in this thread.

[Bopper]

34 minutes ago, Vulgaris said:

Any numbers/opinions about amp up and is it self castable? I've noticed no one's mentioned a peep about it in this thread.

I don't think Amp Up has changed since Build 4, but here are the numbers. It is an ally buff only.

 

•  T9: Amp Up (Ranged, Ally +Special, +Recharge)
  • Empower an ally with raw energy, causing all of their abilities to unleash chained bolts of electricity at nearby foes. These bolts drain a small amount of endurance and have a chance to knock up the target. Amp Up also moderately increases their attack rate and greatly boosts the secondary effects of their powers. Their power effects like heals, defense buffs, endurance drains, disorients, holds, immobilizes and more, are all improved. Recharge: Very Long
    • No longer consumes Static
    • Now always provides 50% +recharge and 75% +special

 

Activation Time:   2.57s

Recharge Time:  5m 0s

Endurance Cost:  10.40

Accuracy:  1.00x

 

Power Type:  Click

Target Type:  Friendlies

Power Range:  80.00 ft.

Effect Area:  Single Target

Attack Types:  ranged

 

+75.00% strength to healing for 1m 30s on target (ignores buffs and enhancements, unresistable)

+75.00% strength to defense for 1m 30s on target (ignores buffs and enhancements, unresistable)

+75.00% strength to absorption for 1m 30s on target (ignores buffs and enhancements, unresistable)

+75.00% strength to endurance for 1m 30s on target (ignores buffs and enhancements, unresistable)

+75.00% strength to to hit for 1m 30s on target (ignores buffs and enhancements, unresistable)

+75.00% strength to run speed for 1m 30s on target (ignores buffs and enhancements, unresistable)

+75.00% strength to fly speed for 1m 30s on target (ignores buffs and enhancements, unresistable)

+75.00% strength to confuse for 1m 30s on target (ignores buffs and enhancements, unresistable)

+75.00% strength to terrorize for 1m 30s on target (ignores buffs and enhancements, unresistable)

+75.00% strength to hold for 1m 30s on target (ignores buffs and enhancements, unresistable)

+75.00% strength to immobilize for 1m 30s on target (ignores buffs and enhancements, unresistable)

+75.00% strength to stun for 1m 30s on target (ignores buffs and enhancements, unresistable)

+75.00% strength to sleep for 1m 30s on target (ignores buffs and enhancements, unresistable)

+50.00% strength to recharge for 1m 30s on target (ignores buffs and enhancements, unresistable)

[Myrmidon]

5 hours ago, Sir Myshkin said:

I'd argue that Confuse and Knockback should be stripped out as well so that the player has to make conscious decisions about their cast-actions. Could you imagine getting confused and then dropping a Faraday Cage for the enemy benefit of four minutes?!

The potential to experience this in-game would definitely get my vote.😁

 

 

5 hours ago, Sir Myshkin said:

 

I'll say this now though, if Faraday Cage stays as-is, then it would be a call to balance Dispersion Bubble, Sonic Dispersion, and Force Field Generator to be more inclusive/in-line with the respective sets.

A clarion call. If people thought the “Rage” and “Shock Therapy Name Change” threads were long, then you ain’t seen nothing yet.

[Replacement]

Just to muddy the waters some on Faraday cage...

For all its power, I'm also a bit concerned the effect is going to be frustratingly small for full parties. 

It does make the party open to more aoe, which is perhaps notable given all of its power.

 

It would be in theme, I think, to move the knockback protection to Empowering Circuit.

[Sir Myshkin]

6 hours ago, Replacement said:

For all its power, I'm also a bit concerned the effect is going to be frustratingly small for full parties.

I had some initial concerns with this as well because, visually, it felt pretty tiny, but the radius lists 25' and that is in line with all the other protection bubbles. I wanted to demonstrate that, and double check something else. Since I'm personally not sure who to point towards this specific request, I'll just page @Jimmy on this one because we need an adjustment to the graphic visual of Faraday Cage.

 

I dropped a thumbtack on the map and set myself exactly on the marker 0', popped Faraday Cage, then moved 25 from that center point. Pointing out that the area of effect exceeds the actual visual animation for the cage. This explains why I felt it was too small after having played all three sets of Force Fields, Sonic, and Traps. There's 2 feet between where the buff stops, and when I'm actually "inside" (half inside, half outside) the Cage electrical swirl. So we're talking a visual difference of 4 total feet in its diameter. We could probably loose a bit of the glow as well to help define "in" and "out" more clearly. I hadn't thought to more specifically verify this when I brought it up last week, so here we are.

 

validation with the attribute window, outside the visual cage:

 

and one to validate it does stop at 26':

 

 

Edited March 27, 2020 by Sir Myshkin
Changed screenshots to more clearly defined ones

[WindDemon21]

Personally I'm not a fan of the current sentinel power since you can't control where it does the debuff and can't make it do it faster.

 

I'd rather they keep that a debuff, and then make faraday cage a "faraday sentinel" that either is an aura like ffgen, or constantly procs the faraday cage.

 

That way you still have a pet, and can control that debuff better and use it faster.

Edited March 27, 2020 by WindDemon21

[Bopper]

7 minutes ago, WindDemon21 said:

Personally I'm not a fan of the current sentinel power since you can't control where it does the debuff and can't make it do it faster.

 

I'd rather they keep that a debuff, and then make faraday cage a "faraday sentinel" that either is an aura like ffgen, or constantly procs the faraday cage.

 

That way you still have a pet, and can control that debuff better and use it faster.

What do you mean by do it faster? It has a 3 second recharge and 1 second cast time, and when I tested it, it seemed to spam the attack every 4 seconds (as fast as it possibly can). 

[WindDemon21]

Oh I didn't see it's rech value for the pet. That's no problem then, but there is still the problem of not controlling where it casts it.

 

However a pet that casts faraday cage does not have the same issue.

Edited March 27, 2020 by WindDemon21

[Bopper]

Just now, WindDemon21 said:

Oh I didn't see it's rech value for the pet. That's no problem then, but there is still the problem of not controlling where it casts it.

 

However a pet that casts faraday cage does not have the same issue.

That's a pretty big change request to make this late into Beta testing. Since the pet hits the debuff in an area, I wouldnt be too concerned with who they target. I'll have to go back and check the numbers, but I suppose its 15 ft radius. I'll edit if I'm mistaken.

 

Anyways, we could look at requesting a wider AoE, maybe 20 ft.

[WindDemon21]

Just now, Bopper said:

That's a pretty big change request to make this late into Beta testing. Since the pet hits the debuff in an area, I wouldnt be too concerned with who they target. I'll have to go back and check the numbers, but I suppose its 15 ft radius. I'll edit if I'm mistaken.

 

Anyways, we could look at requesting a wider AoE, maybe 20 ft.

That would be helpful then. Is it taoe or pbaoe and the pet likes to melee? I'm hoping/assuming it's taoe.

[Wavicle]

1 minute ago, WindDemon21 said:

That would be helpful then. Is it taoe or pbaoe and the pet likes to melee? I'm hoping/assuming it's taoe.

It's a ranged ability and the pet likes to stay at range, tends not to cause much threat, and has its own decent resistances.

 

It can be Mezzed, but you have Faraday Cage for that.

Edited March 27, 2020 by Wavicle

[oedipus_tex]

I can definitely see an argument fr why Faraday should maybe not be castable while mezzed. It basically means this set is immune to mezz. I'm kind of ambivalent though. 

 

If the castable while mezzed component is kept, the Recharge could be longer and the set still be fine.

 

I do think a 10 second Recharge is very very generous though. That means its not even worth slotting it with Recharge. I think 45-60 seconds is appropriate for this power. That would make it 35 second or so with simple slotting, 20-25 on high end builds.

 

Right now Electric Affinity can slip out of a mezz every 5 seconds on a non IO build and 2 seconds with enough global recharge. Back before this set could get its own chains bounced back to it, that was more necessary to make it stand out. Right now it does seem a bit too generous IMO.

 

 

Edited March 27, 2020 by oedipus_tex

[Replacement]

2 hours ago, Sir Myshkin said:

I had some initial concerns with this as well because, visually, it felt pretty tiny, but the radius lists 25' and that is in line with all the other protection bubbles

Possible my Mids' version is wrong, but looks like Storm>Steamy Mist and Dark Miasma> Shadow Fall both have 40' radii.  Faraday Cage isn't a toggle like those, but it may as well be in that you're going to want to stand inside it with your melees.

[Hjarki]

12 hours ago, Vulgaris said:

Any numbers/opinions about amp up and is it self castable? I've noticed no one's mentioned a peep about it in this thread.

It is not self-castable and I'd probably skip it.

 

Amp Up doesn't so much improve attributes as improve powers. So it doesn't provide any additional defense, but it does provide the equivalent of extra enhancements for the defensive powers the target does have. However, the one enhancement you'd really appreciate - increased damage - is missing. The description talks about shooting electric bolts, but I haven't noticed anything that could be construed as doing this.

 

In theory, it should boost the end drain of Galvanic Sentinel, but if this does anything it really would only be taking the end drain from 'irrelevant' to 'slightly more noticeable irrelevant'. For most pets, Amp Up will do almost nothing.

 

From what I've seen, it's useless on pets and not terribly useful on players.

[Bopper]

1 minute ago, Hjarki said:

So it doesn't provide any additional defense, but it does provide the equivalent of extra enhancements for the defensive powers the target does have

Actually, it doesnt even do that. It does enhance defense debuffs though. And DDR (if the toon has it). Mostly it's a single target recharge buff that does provide a chance at KD (havent tested) and like you said, greatly enhances a players secondary effects. Probably nice to use on a fellow support character. A shame it isn't a chain power. 100% effect on target, 75% effect on 2nd jump, and 50% effect on the rest.